Material Responses to Natural Hazards in 16Th and 17Th Centuries: Cases from Pre- Sent-Day Slovenia and Its Surroundings

RAZPRAVE Dela 43 ● 2015 ● 5–28 MATERIAL RESPONSES TO NATURAL HAZARDS IN 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES: CASES FROM PRE- SENT-DAY SLOVENIA AND ITS SURROUNDINGS Žiga Zwitter, PhD. Department of History, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana Aškerčeva 2, SI–1000 Ljubljana e-mail: [email protected] Original scientific article COBISS 1.01 DOI: 10.4312/dela.43.1.5-28 Abstract Material responses to natural hazards threatening agricultural land and dwellings in princely seigneuries and urban settlements included cooperation between central agencies, regional and local level – in some cases leading to efficient measures. Examples of reactions of provincial estates, non-princely seigneuries and neighbours are also given. Historical knowledge contributed to risk mitigation. Artificial interventions in landscape due to flood hazard affected also flood safe locations. Key words: natural disaster, environmental history, Early Modern Period, Slovenia, Carniola, Styria, Carinthia, Inner Austria, archival sources STVARNI ODZIVI NA NARAVNE NESREČE V 16. IN 17. STOLETJU: PRIMERI Z OZEMLJA DANAŠNJE SLOVENIJE IN NJENE OKOLICE Izvleček Stvarni odgovori na naravne nesreče, ki so ogrožale kmetijska zemljišča in bivališča v deželnoknežjih gospostvih in urbanih naseljih, so vključevali sodelovanje centralnih or- ganov, regionalne in lokalne ravni. V nekaterih primerih so omogočili učinkovite ukrepe. Navajam tudi primere odzivov deželnih stanov, nedeželnoknežjih gospostev in sosedov. Poznavanje zgodovine je prispevalo k zmanjševanju tveganja. S poplavami povezani člo- veški posegi v pokrajino so spreminjali tudi poplavno varna območja. Ključne besede: naravne nesreče, okoljska zgodovina, zgodnji novi vek, Slovenija, Kranjska, Štajerska, Koroška, Notranja Avstrija, arhivski viri 5 Dela_43_notranjost_FINAL.indd 5 23.12.2015 14:41:03 Žiga Zwitter / Dela 43 ● 2015 ● 5–28 1 INTRODUCTION ‘Disasters /…/ have two historical trajectories, one “natural” and the other societal. They are “historical” in the sense that both forces change over time’ (Bankoff, 2007, p. 104). The article concentrates on the period from mid 1560s to the late 17th century. In the observed timeframe, great majority of people here lived on the countryside as tenants of various seigneuries. The state and transformation of cultural landscape as results of interrelated ever changing natural conditions and processes on the one hand, and varying human interventions on the other hand were often much different from the present ones. The braided rivers, for instance, heavily transformed during the further course of history, must already in the observed timeframe be interpreted as socio-natural sites, although human interventions were in general not comparable with the ones from industrial period (Winiwarter et al., 2013). The main emphasis is placed on case studies (Fig. 1) from the territory which was at that time part of three provinces belonging to the Inner Austrian group – Carniola, Sty- ria and Carinthia (Spreitzhofer et al., 1988). Inner Austria had its own central agencies in its capital Graz. Whereas court’s treasuries in Vienna were responsible for the Inner Austrian territory until 1564 (Inventar …, 1951), the court’s treasury and the Lower Aus- trian court’s treasury were founded in Graz in that year (Spreitzhofer et al., 1988; Vilfan, 1996). The majority of archival sources of central agencies from the period 1564–1625, used in this article, are preserved in the chronological series from the collection Archive of the Inner Austrian court’s treasury in Styrian provincial archives, thus they are results of operation of the court’s treasury in Graz, not of the Lower Austrian court’s treasury situated there (Puschnig, 1959). Division of work between both court’s treasuries in Graz changed more than once until 1625 when they were united into the Inner Austrian court’s treasury. These court’s treasuries were responsible for princely property until the end of the observed period (Spreitzhofer et al., 1988), which suggests that they were actively involved in material responses to natural hazards and disasters. On the provincial level, two parallel but partly overlapping administrative systems co- existed, the princely one and the one of the Estates of each province. Central authorities from Graz cooperated with the princely ones. In the observed timeframe and in the observed provinces, Viztums were officials administrating the princely property on the province level or at least on the level of a very considerable part of the province as in the case of Styria. One of the most important fields for which Estates of the provinces were competent and which is important for this article was the administration of taxes from non-princely seigneuries based on revenues from land in possession of tenants (Spreitzhofer et al., 1988; Vilfan, 1996; Golec, 2011), thus they were also actively involved in material reactions to natural disasters. By analysing archival sources from the archives of the court’s treasury in Graz, the Inner Austrian court’s treasury, the Estates of the provinces of Carniola and Styria, the Viztum of Carniola and selected seigneuries, the article, firstly, provides a new basic in- sight in the administrative as well as not formally organized material responses to natural hazards within the specified timeframe and area, and secondly, discusses artificial interventions into environment related to natural hazards with an emphasis on floods. Within the cultural landscape, the article focuses on agricultural land and banks of watercourses. 6 Dela_43_notranjost_FINAL.indd 6 23.12.2015 14:41:03 Material responses to natural hazards in 16th and 17th centuries... Figure 1: Important locations for understanding the case studies. For easier orientation, state boundaries are represented in their present-day outline. Background: Relief map of Slovenia Slika 1: Lokacije, pomembne za razumevanje študij primerov. Za enostavnejšo orientacijo so prikazane današnje državne meje. Ozadje: Relief map of Slovenia 1 Kozarje; 2 Primož, Osredek pri Hubajnici, Dolge, Gornje Impolje, Dolnje Impolje, Dolnje Orle; 3 Eisenkappel/Železna Kapla; 4 Jezerski vrh/Seebergsattel; 5 Kropa; 6 Slovenske Konji- ce; 7 Mala vas, Stožice; 8 Luče ob Savinji; 9 Ljubno ob Savinji; 10 Kamnik; 11 Gornji Grad; 12 Šoštanj; 13 Solčava; 14 Pobrežje; 15 Gösselsdorf/Goselna vas; 16 Schwabegg/Žvabek; 17 Kostanjevica na Krki; 18 Ravne na Koroškem; 19 Celje; 20 Nova vas, Dvorska vas; 21 Savica, Brod; 22 Šešče, Vrbje, Spodnje Roje; 23 Stein/Kamen, Seidendorf/Ždinja vas, Piskertschach/ Piskrče; 24 Winkel/Kot; 25 Studor; 26 Otoče, Globoko; 27 Nomenj 2 FROM CENTRAL AUTHORITIES TO LOCAL RELIEF: BASIC LEVELS OF MATERIAL RESPONSES TO NATURAL DISASTERS 2. 1 The levels of Inner Austria and its provinces Environmental historian Christian Pfister (2009) divides activities during and after a natural disaster into phases of emergency, damage compensation and reconstruction. Ac- cording to him ‘under the ancient régime, local officials waited for instructions from the prince and his cabinet in the wake of a disaster’ (pp. 25–26) and only later, e.g. in the late 7 Dela_43_notranjost_FINAL.indd 7 23.12.2015 14:41:04 Žiga Zwitter / Dela 43 ● 2015 ● 5–28 18th century when the initiative of the local level increased, ‘local officials reported their observations to higher levels of administration and made recommendations on how best to manage the emergency phase’ (p. 26). In the damage-compensation phase ‘disaster- stricken communities usually received some support from the territorial ruler or his sur- rogate’ (p. 27). The provinces could reduce or free the disaster-stricken population from taxes (Pfister, 2002a) and it was for instance typical for reconstruction following disas- trous floods, the phase succeeding the emergency and damage compensation, that prior to the 19th century adaptation and flood risk mitigation were matters of local communities in the Western Europe (Pfister, 2009). On the observed territory, the system functioned in a slightly different way. According to the following case studies, central agencies took very important final decisions in the phases of damage compensation and reconstruction, but before that they had received the information from the local level, they had checked it and had asked for advice at the regional, mainly provincial level. The instructions from 1498 already ordered the provincial administrator of princely property (Viztum) in Carniola to provide a report on damage, caused by natural disasters to the land in possession of tenants from princely seigneuries, to the central agency exist- ing at that time (Žontar, 1966). How did the information from princely seigneuries reach the central authorities in the 16th and 17th centuries? The example of princely tenants from the small seigneury of Kozarje, spatially concentrated mainly in the village Kozarje (Fig. 1; no. 1) from the late 16th century is representative of many similar cases. First, the court in Graz in Styria, at that time the capital of Inner Austria, received a letter written by tenants or on behalf of them, e.g. by a person with pledge right on the affected princely seigneury. In the case of Kozarje, it says that severe winter and cold weather in 1586, the subsequent frost but most of all hailstorms in 1588 caused great damage to cereals and fruits to eight princely tenants there which turned them to poverty and caused ‘severe famine’. The letter was written not earlier than in 1589. Tenants asked for release from their debts caused

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